Ex-NJ cop hurt by staple defends disability pay

UNDATED (AP) — A former New Jersey Transit officer collecting disability from a staple wound to a finger on his non-shooting hand acknowledges a video that shows him firing a sniper rifle makes the disability claim look “ridiculous.”

But Christopher Onesti says the problem lies with an all-or-nothing pension system.

The suburban Philadelphia man has been collecting a nearly $46,000-a-year tax-free pension after it was ruled he could no longer work as a patrol officer because of the injury.

Onesti tells WNBC-TV in New York the video obtained by the website New Jersey Watchdog looks bad, but the injury left his left hand too weak to perform all police duties and the law entitled him to a disability pension.